Pursuing a Dream
by hitsugayafan
Summary: AU for the most part. Naruto fails his Genin exam, and is told he cannot be a ninja anymore. He leaves so he can pursue his dream to become one of the world's top ninjas. No pairings, rated M to be safe for violence. Summary sucks.


Hey, this is my first story. Feel free to criticise on things you think I need to improve.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Naruto or anything having to do with it. These characters, setting, etc. are not mine.

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"I'm sorry, Naruto. You fail." Iruka frowned sadly at the small child in front of him.

"Now wait, Iruka. He did manage to make two this time." Mizuki tried to persuade the teacher. Naruto gave puppy dog eyes to Iruka, trying to convince him that yes, he should pass for that.

"Mizuki, you know as well as I do that you need three to pass. That's not even mentioning that the clones Naruto produced wouldn't help at all in a battle! He clearly cannot use the jutsu so he fails." Naruto clenched his fists and ran out of the room. Ignoring the snickers from his classmates he went to swing on the tree swing outside the academy.

Naruto always envied the other children. Their parents came to pick them up after classes. Naruto had no parents, so he always left alone.

"It's a good thing they didn't let him pass… You know, with his-" The lady talking was cut off by her friend.

"Sssh! Do you want to go to jail?" The women gave her friend a look of understanding. Naruto stared blankly at the women who blatantly thought something was wrong enough with him that he shouldn't be allowed to be a ninja.

Slowly, people came and went. Even Iruka, who gave Naruto a sad smile, had gone. Naruto was about to leave when he felt a presence behind him.

"Hey Naruto, how are you doing?" Mizuki's soothing voice asked.

"Not the greatest. Why does Iruka have to be so strict all the time?" Naruto stared at the academy building sadly.

"Naruto, you know Iruka's only hard on you because he sees himself in you. You're both orphans and jokesters. You know, Naruto, I'm really not supposed to tell you this, but I think I can make an exception on your part." At this Naruto's eyes lit up.

"What aren't you supposed to tell me? Is it a secret?" Mizuki laughed at the excitement that was literally pouring from Naruto's pores.

"Well…"

Naruto ran through the forest with the scroll on his back. Panting, he hid behind a nearby tree. He couldn't believe what he had just been told!

"_The secret no one is supposed to tell you is that you are the Kyuubi! The Yondaime couldn't kill you so he sealed you up!_"

Naruto shook his head to get rid of those nasty thoughts. Iruka had given him a task; protect the scroll with your life, and don't let Mizuki get it. When he ran away from the clearing after Mizuki revealed the Kyuubi to him, Naruto was still coherent enough to set up several traps to where he was. With enough luck, one of those would take out Mizu-

Naruto heard voices through the trees.

"You see, Iruka, me and Naruto are the same. That demon is probably planning to use the scroll for revenge right now!" Mizuki sneered at the battered Iruka on the forest floor.

"You're right. The demon fox would use the scroll like that." Naruto felt his heart break, "But not Naruto! Uzumaki Naruto and the fox are two different beings, and I know that Naruto would never do anything to hurt the village on purpose!"

Naruto felt happy for a second, until he caught the 'on purpose' part. Did Iruka not think him responsible enough to avoid making mistakes that could harm the village? Naruto once again banished his thoughts from his head. Mizuki had screamed 'Die!' at Iruka and was probably about to impale him with something pointy.

"Stay away from Iruka-sensei!" Naruto yelled, blocking the shuriken flying towards his teacher.

"Or what?" Mizuki scoffed at the idea of Naruto making any difference in the fight.

"Or I'll destroy you!" Naruto snarled, putting his hands into a familiar sign.

"**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**"

Once Mizuki was dealt with, Naruto went over to Iruka to help him stand. None of the shuriken from earlier had hit vital spots, so Iruka would be fine.

"Iruka-sensei, wasn't I awes-" Naruto started excitedly, proud of himself.

"What were you thinking, taking part in an obviously made up test like that? You not only believed something as stupid as stealing from the _Hokage _would give you a pass, you endangered the whole village! Those techniques are forbidden for a reason!" Iruka snapped at Naruto, making him flinch.

"I-I thought you would be proud of me! I took out a chunin!" Naruto protested.

"Which you wouldn't have had to do if you had you used your head! Follow me, we're going to see the Hokage." Naruto trudged along behind a furious Iruka.

"Naruto, I'm very disappointed with you. You should have known better." The Sandaime was clearly upset.

"I know, Jiji, it's just- I wasjust so excited about getting another chance that I-"

"Don't you think maybe it's time to give up all of this? I'm sorry to say this, Naruto, but 99% of those who don't pass the exam with their age group never become ninjas. You clearly have problems with the techniques, your Taijutsu is a mess, and your accuracy is very bad. With those results, I can't say I see very much drive to become a ninja." Naruto couldn't believe his ears.

"Not enough drive? I don't know anyone who wants to be a ninja more than me! And those things aren't my fault! Other than Iruka, the academy teachers sabotaged me and taught me the wrong way of doing things! By the time I got Iruka, I was so far behind I couldn't keep up!" Sarutobi gave a very light gasp.

"Sabotage, Naruto? That is a very serious accusation to make. You-" The Third couldn't say anything else because Naruto went ballistic.

"_Jiji!_ You know that the village hates me because of the Kyuubi! Please, let me try to join the academy again! I don't know what I'll do if I can't become a ninja!" Naruto was frantic. His eyes were fixed on the Third, but they were panicked.

"I'm sorry, Naruto, but I think it would be better for you to go into a civilian school and find another job that you like. I don't think you have what it takes to be a ninja." With those words, Naruto let out a sob. He ran out of the office, tears escaping down his face.

"Hokage-sama… Was all of that really necessary? And I'm sure Naruto could be better if he tried harder." Iruka looked out the doorway, concerned.

"Naruto takes being a ninja too lightly. He skips the classes at the academy and then blames teachers for his lack of knowledge with excuses of sabotage. I'm also sure that the village would tolerate him more if he didn't pester them with his pranks all the time. I care about the boy, but he brought this upon himself." Iruka gave the Hokage a sad stare, before also leaving the office.

Really, he would like to let Naruto have another go at it, but being a Jinchuuriki meant everything had to be strict. It gave Naruto fewer chances to prove himself, and he wasted those chances.

Naruto sulked in his apartment for the next couple of days. He woke up, ate, stared out his window, ate, napped, ate and slept. During this time the Sandaime registered Naruto in the only civilian school close to where Naruto lived in Konoha. He had been removed from the Academy. His weapons like kunai and shuriken had all been confiscated, except for the ones that he had hidden when he got home. He had known they would take them, as it is illegal to have them as a civilian.

During his time alone Naruto also read some of the scrolls he had hidden under his bed. They were simple things like Kawarimi and chakra control exercises, but they kept Naruto's will to become a ninja alive in his heart. Having reread them a million times, Naruto knew them by heart. Things made more sense now. Before he hadn't even known what chakra actually was!

He practiced his techniques around his apartment and found they were slightly easier. Not much, but slightly. It made him wonder what he could do after he did all those chakra excercises…

Sadly for Naruto, his alone time didn't last long. The Sandaime wouldn't stand for him to waste his life away in his apartment, so he had a ninja bring Naruto to school the next day. It wasn't pretty.

Sarutobi should have realized that these ninjas would only make Naruto angrier. The fact that the Third had sent to Naruto the one thing he wanted most desperately but couldn't have made his mind cloud with fury. Oh, and the tiny fact that it was Kiba's team who had to escort him.

"Hah! Naruto, how's the _civilian_ life going for you? Even the Third realized how terrible you were! Well guess what? Sasuke passed as well! There goes your so called rivalry!" Kiba snickered at the furious blonde.

Naruto tried controlling himself, he really did. He just couldn't take Kiba's torment any longer.

"You _bastard_!" Naruto growled pouncing on Kiba. The brawl lasted about twenty seconds before Kiba's team sensei, Kurenai, came and broke it up.

"Kiba! You shouldn't have said that! And Naruto, you can't get into fights like that anymore. You're a civilian now. Act like it." That had hurt more than Naruto let on, but he allowed Kiba's team to escort him to the school.

"Have fun!" Kiba had sneered at Naruto when they started to leave. Hinata 'eeped' and looked back and forth between Kiba and Naruto. After a moment of contemplating, she ran after her team, not sparing Naruto another glance.

The school had been hell. Not only did the teachers not even attempt to hide their dislike of him (which only fuelled the bullying Naruto received), but he was made fun of in class for being behind. Seriously, what kind of ninja needed to know math? Wasn't fighting the point? Why did they expect him to know something the academy hadn't covered?

These thoughts ran rampant through Naruto's head as he lay on his bed. His eyes seemed to burn holes into the ceiling. If only there was some way to still be a ninja, he could-

Naruto shot up out of his bed and dragged out a map of the Shinobi Nations. He didn't have to have a headband to be a ninja, right? What was keeping him from ditching the prison cell that Konoha had become to him? He could just leave and become whatever he wanted!

Thinking to himself that this was a great plan, he started packing his bag. He brought the chakra control exercises that he had read and a couple dozen packs of ramen. He also brought a sleeping bag, weapons, and his night cap.

Suddenly Naruto realized that he had nothing to learn when he got out there. How would he become a great ninja without anything to teach him? After thinking, Naruto thought it would be best to nab some scrolls from somewhere. Finding someone to teach him once he got out there would be risky. That person could easily be a missing nin if they knew ninja techniques to teach him.

Standing outside the Uchiha compound, Naruto felt a little nervous. What if it was haunted? He knew Sasuke had stopped living there since the massacre, but what if ghosts had also fueled his leave?

Sneaking through the gates, although there was no one around to sneak from, he entered the creepy compound. He shuddered when he saw bloody hand prints on the wall. How could someone do this? Weren't the Uchiha supposed to be elite? What if the murderer returned to ensure no one was staying there anymore?

Naruto gasped a little at that thought. Hurrying up his search, he quickly found the main house. He searched the rooms for the library and quickly found it. It was huge! Good thing Naruto had received a storage seal from Iruka for his tenth birthday or he wouldn't have been able to pull of his heist.

Grabbing as much stuff as quickly as he could, Naruto set off for his next destination. This one would be much harder, and Naruto was unsure if he could pull it off.

He couldn't believe he had pulled it off. He had gotten into the Hokage Tower quite easily. The two ANBU in the tree had fallen asleep, which made it ten times easier for Naruto to sense them. He only had to avoid a couple officials roaming the halls, and then he was in the Hokage's secret library. He could see the Forbidden Scroll off to his left, but he left that alone. It had caused him a great deal of trouble already and he didn't want to have anything to do with it.

Naruto had no clue what to take. There were so many scrolls… Eventually he settled on taking all the ones he could before the Saindaime woke up from the nap he was taking at his desk.

Naruto had done a good hour and a half of reading the titles of scrolls and then stuffing them into his storage seal before he hear a bit of shuffling coming from the hall. Not taking any chances, Naruto decided he had enough and bolted into a vent in the ceiling.

The man who had come in was a secretary. He had probably been sent to get some of the boring paperwork Naruto had found in the back of the room. The man yawned, and rubbed his eyes as he entered.

Naruto waited while holding his breath. The man saw the lack of scrolls in the room and his mouth opened in shock. He dropped the coffee mug he had been holding and ran out of the room.

"_Hokage-sama!_" The man wailed, running towards the old man's office. Naruto took that as his chance to leave.

Once outside the tower Naruto ran like the wind towards a forest not too far from his apartment. The village wall not only was lower that way, but it had been neglected and no one but Naruto had noticed a hole in the ground that was dug under the wall. It had probably been done by a dog or a fox or something, but Naruto intended to take full advantage of it.

Once he squashed his body through the whole and dragged his pack behind him, he took off East, towards some smaller countries that had no ninja. It was also the direction of theWater, and Wave.

He had decided to go there because Kirigakure wasn't openly hostile towards Konoha, but it was by no means going to let them just waltz in. It also had a surprisingly high rate of missing nins, so he might find one nice enough to teach him a little. Wind was out because of the treaty. Although the treaty was shaky, it was still a treaty. Kumo and Iwa were way too hostile. If there were any signs of him being from Konoha, which there were based on what he had brought with him, they would most likely kill him.

Naruto didn't stop travelling until the next night. By then he was exhausted, but it had probably taken them half a day to figure out he was gone after he had stolen the scrolls. There had been no proof linking him, but his disappearance would say enough.

Exhausted, Naruto fell asleep in his makeshift hammock high up in the foliage of the trees of the forests.

* * *

I know I made the Third a dick, but in my story he didn't take Naruto's pranks as a sign of friendliness. Unfortunately, his pranks represent that he is imcapable of taking his training seriously. Even in the manga, Naruto doesn't take much seriously until much later in the story. That kind of attitude doesn't fit in much in a world of killing. If I was Hokage, I would find it to be a hindrance.

So, how was it? Please tell me your opinion and if I made any mistakes. Suggestions are welcome, and don't hold back scathing remarks if you think I derserve them. Review!


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